Given the child's extensive food sensitivities, I would suspect the
child's ability to absorb nutrients is or was impaired.  Is the mother
really free of any trace of dairy?  It looks like she eliminated
pretty much all of the top allergens, but in someone this sensitive
it's not unusual to find more obscure allergies, especially to
anything the mother or child eats regularly.  To cause this large an
effect it's probably not due to something they eat once a month or so.
 Or could it be that the child is simply behind the curve because of
allergy difficulties early in life but is now gaining fairly normally
now that his diet is cleaned up?  I don't know to what extent the body
would try to catch up to the genetically intended weight once the
offending foods are removed.

Now the mom herself may have problems with her digestion as well if
whole food proteins were passing into her milk in enough quantity to
irritate the baby's system.  But I'm not sure this would be reflected
much in the quantity and caloric content of her milk??  May affect
more the vitamin and mineral profile?

This family has a huge advantage in identifying food sensitivities
with their child being toilet trained - are there any clues there?
Frequent urination?  Constipation?  Consistency and size of stools?
Frequency of bowel movements?  Inability to control urine or bowels
after consuming offending foods?  In my experience with children out
of diapers at 18 months, normal is urination every 30-60 minutes in
the morning, and every 2-4 hours or so in the afternoon, plus once or
twice in the night.  Bowel movements once or twice a day, well formed,
no straining.  Able most of the time to hold elimination for at least
a minute as needed.

Also how is the child's sleep? skin? behavior? frequency of illness?
history of ear infections?  Any signs the child is currently suffering
a problem, or does it look like it was all in the past and the child
is on a healthy track now?  How do the mother and father feel about
their child's health?

Yes, someone has to be at the bottom of the bell curve, but given this
child's digestive history, and genetics not pointing to the bottom of
the bell curve, I would hesitate to put faith in that for this case.
It does sound like this child is fairly healthy despite the slow
weight gain, for which the mom deserves a lot of credit with the
intense breastfeeding needs this child has had, and the diet
modifications required!

-Rosemary McNaughton, LLLL
Northampton, Massachusetts, USA


On Thu, May 14, 2009 at 12:11 PM, Rachel Myr <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Need input on a case for which I have permission to post, please reply to
> the list.
> The child is just over a year and a half, weight 8150 g, length 75 cm (just
> below 18 lb, and 30 inches).  Exclusively BF for first six months by his
> mother, who has long and good experience breastfeeding her other children,
> singly and tandem.  She went on dairy-free diet from seven weeks because of
> bloody stools in baby, which resolved and never returned.  Weight gain at
> low end of normal until six months, thereafter about sixty grams/month
> (about two ounces).  Rest of family (both parents and all siblings) are
> above average in size.
>

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